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The End of an Age in Europe

By

Bijan Khezri

Updated June 1, 2005 12:01 a.m. ET

London -- During the months leading to Sunday's vote on the EU Constitution in France and the Dutch vote today, little was said about the constitution itself as governments have been paternalistically hijacking the debate as a matter of embracing or rejecting Europe altogether.

But in the heat of the debate ahead of this week's referendums, it has gone unnoticed that they have given birth to a "Silent Spring" revolution, irrevocably redefining the relationship between the electorates and their governments. This...